Harbour Centre takeover stopped

The Court of Appeals (CA) has stopped a Pasig City Regional Trial Court from allowing service provider One Source Port Services Inc. to take over Habour Centre Port Holdings Inc. from businessman Rhegis Romero II.

The issue was allegedly linked to a running feud between Romero and his son, Michael Romero, a statement on Monday showed.

The resolution, promulgated on Jan. 5, from the Court of Appeals’ special second division, showed that a 60-day temporary restraining order had been granted.

The CA Special Second Division composed of Associate Justices Danton Bueser, Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Pedro Corrales directed One Source to cease and desist from taking over the port terminal.

It also ordered the court sheriff of Pasig RTC Branch 167 to stop implementing a Dec. 1, 2014 injunction issued by Pasig Judge Rolando Mislang that allowed One Source to take over the terminal, the resolution showed.

“Petitioners complied with this Court’s Dec. 12, 2014 resolution and the extreme urgency of the matter involved and in order not to render nugatory and ineffectual whatever resolution/judgment may be rendered in the present petition, petitioner’s plea for a temporary restraining order is hereby granted, to be effective upon service and for a period of sixty days, unless sooner lifted,” the Court of Appeals said.

One Source, a firm contracted by Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. to render Port Ancillary Services and Services Management since January 2007, filed a formal complaint against the elder Romero and his R-II Builders Inc. and R-II Holdings in November last year, a previous statement showed.